1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to transaction tool promulgation.
2. Background Art
Transaction tools are instruments issued by a third party (i.e., transaction tool issuer) to facilitate transactions between a holder (i.e., transaction tool holder) and a recipient by “vouching” for a holder's identity and/or trustworthiness. Accordingly, transaction tools are used to authenticate the identity and/or trustworthiness of a holder.
Transaction tools may be managed for issuers and holders by management systems. As an example, for an issuer of credit cards, a management system may facilitate day-to-day transactions by verifying credit availability. Additionally, for an issuer of digital certificates, a management system may facilitate day-to-day transactions by authenticating the validity of a digital certificate. Furthermore, from a holder standpoint, a corporation may use a management system to manage digital certificates installed by employees on computers in the corporation's network. While transaction tool management systems generally facilitate day-to-day use of transaction tools, such systems do not manage the promulgation of a new and/or updated transaction tool. Accordingly, the holder of the transaction tool (i.e., the person and/or entity to which the transaction tool is initially issued) must manually notify recipients of the new and/or updated transaction tool if the holder desires to engage in future transactions with the recipient.